Project Overviews

The Parcel 7 Fenway Center development will be located over the Massachusetts Turnpike and on land including surface parking lots between the Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue bridges.

The proposed Fenway Center development is a “Smart Growth,” transit and sustainable energy-oriented development that will locate approximately 550 residences, offices and neighborhood-oriented retail space directly adjacent to the newly improved Yawkey Commuter Rail Station, one block from the MBTA’s Kenmore Square and Fenway Green Line Stations.

The Fenway Center mixed-use development has been designed to connect and integrate into the existing Fenway, Kenmore, and Longwood Medical Area neighborhoods and meet the goals of the joint Boston and MassDOT Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights study by:

Fostering the increased use and capacity of public transportation and decreased
reliance on private automobiles.

Strengthening the vitality and quality of life in the neighborhood.

Enhancing the neighborhood and the City as a place to live, work and invest in by
providing broad public benefits.

Repairing the public realm by suturing the void created by the Mass Pike with
buildings and public spaces designed to create lively public spaces.

The Fenway Center design respects the urban grid, replaces a large surface parking lot and fills in existing space between long, wind-swept bridges with new buildings and retail amenities along Beacon Street and Brookline Avenue. The development will also incorporate significant new green spaces with an open and light contemporary design and complementary ground level neighborhood-oriented retail with upper level residential units and office space. The buildings are arranged so that the taller buildings are located adjacent to Yawkey Station, serving as an architectural marker and gateway, while the smaller buildings are scaled down in respect to the Audubon Circle neighborhood and Fenway Park area. Fenway Center is also planning to feature one of the largest private solar power plants in Massachusetts and the first “zero net energy” MBTA commuter rail station in the Commonwealth. Provided that State and Federal renewable energy incentives continue, the planned solar photovoltaic panels will generate up to 650 kilowatts, which will supply a significant portion of the project’s electricity and all of the power needs of the Yawkey commuter rail station.

The Fenway Center team led by local developer John Rosenthal is committed to respecting the neighboring Kenmore, Fenway, and Audubon Circle communities and exceeding the Civic Vision goals, the City’s new standards relating to green buildings, and the Commonwealth’s New Energy Stretch Code. Fenway Center will dramatically enhance the pedestrian environment with new inviting walkways, green spaces, and greatly enhanced connections between Audubon Circle, Kenmore Square, Fenway Park, Yawkey Station and the Lansdowne Entertainment District. By covering the Massachusetts Turnpike, Fenway Center will not only reduce the wind, visual and noise impacts, it will also significantly improve public safety with the increase of residents, office tenants, neighborhood retailers, and new and improved pedestrian and vehicular connections.

The New MBTA Yawkey Station is a stand alone, state funded Commuter Rail Station.

Meredith was designated by the MBTA to develop and construct the $14.9 million state funded Yawkey Station, a full service Commuter Rail Station and multi-modal center with direct access to South Station to the East and Framingham and Worcester to the West. The Project is also just one block from the newly designed MBTA Green Line and Bus Station, a $32 million renovation project, and MBTA’s Kenmore Square and Fenway stations. Yawkey Station commenced construction in the Spring of 2011 and was completed in spring of 2014. Once Fenway Center is completed it is projected that Yawkey Station will be the first “zero net energy” MBTA transit station in the Commonwealth. Now that the new station is complete, there are 33-40 stops (versus 17 previously) at Yawkey Station per day, significantly improving the level of service and convenience to commuters, area residents, and Boston Red Sox fans.